Spotify is making a major move into podcasts, where it appears to have clear designs to be the sort of Aggregator it cannot be when it comes to music.
BuzzFeed Followup, The Future is Niche, Atlassian and Bing
BuzzFeed’s relative scale problem, and why venture capital doesn’t make sense for content, because the future is niche. Plus, important follow-up on Bing and Atlassian.
The BuzzFeed Lesson
The lesson of BuzzFeed is that dominant Aggregators like Facebook have no incentive to act against their self interest and support suppliers.
Distinguishing Regulation, Is the Internet Different?, Reasons for Skepticism
Follow-up on The State of Technology in 2018: the different types of regulation, whether or not the Internet is different, and why consumer tech companies may be weaker than they seem.
The State of Technology at the End of 2018
The State of Technology, at least in the enterprise space, is strong; consumer tech is another story, and it is time to question the dominance of big companies like Google.
Aggregators and Jobs-to-be-Done
Aggregators succeed by being the best at doing the jobs consumers want done.
Data Factories
Facebook and Google and other advertising businesses are data factories, and regulation will be most effective if it lets users look inside
The iPhone XR Delay, India, and China; Discriminatory Job Ads on Facebook; EU Versus Internet Follow-Up
More follow-up on the iPhone, then how discriminatory job ads on Facebook demonstrate how to police bad behavior on platforms with zero marginal costs. Plus, follow-up on The European Union Versus the Internet.
Spotify and the Labels, Labels and Aggregation, Newspapers and Texture
Spotify and the labels are at odds, largely because the latter don’t understand their competitive environment. Then, Apple is trying to build the news bundle.
MoviePass, Finally; Value Chains and Unit Costs; Atlassian and Slack
Finally, the MoviePass breakdown so many have been asking for; then, another story to catch-up on, about Atlassian, Slack, and leadership.